Preparation

1. Line cupcake tins with paper liners. Fill the liners two-thirds full with the batter. Place 1 marble or tinfoil ball between each liner and the tin. This will make a dent in your cupcake when it bakes to make it heart-shaped. Bake the cupcakes as directed in the recipe
. If you are using marbles, be careful when removing the cupcakes from the tins because the marbles will be very hot.

2. With a small paring knife, cut out a circle about the size of a dime in the center of each cupcake, going about two thirds of the way in. Pull the little plug of cake out. Cut off the top of this piece (about 1/2 inch thick) and eat or discard the bottom. Use a teaspoon or a squeeze bottle to fill the hole partway with the strawberry jelly "blood." Put the little cake plug back in. Continue with the rest of the hearts.

3. Put one third of the frosting into two separate bowls. Color one bowl of frosting with the red food coloring. Tint the other bowl of the frosting blue. Tint the remaining two thirds pink.

4. Frost the cupcakes with the pink frosting. Make it super smooth by dipping a butter or frosting/palette knife in a bowl of hot water and smoothing it over the top. With the pastry bag or a knife, use the red and blue frosting to make veins on the hearts.

Recent Review

These are absolutely delightful. I recommend cutting a portion from the /top/ of the cupcake, removing a small section from the bottom of this slice (what was once the centre of the cupcake), partially filling the hole, and then replacing the (now smaller) portion of cupcake top. This prevents any issue with leaking/unstable sides of cupcakes.